Tag Archives: pest

ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — Crops almost never go from potentially record yields one year to drastic acre reductions the next, but catastrophic aphid infestations coupled with low prices may force grain sorghum growers into that situation. Erick Larson, grain crops specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said if not for the white sugarcane aphid, the state would have one ...

PONTOTOC — Most deer hunters will not encounter wild hogs, but if they do, wildlife biologists want them to be prepared. At a recent wild hog seminar in Pontotoc, wildlife biologists emphasized the trouble these disease-carrying pests can cause human and wildlife populations. Speakers addressed the environmental impacts, the threats to fawns and ground-nesting birds, hunting decisions and field-dressing precautions. ...

ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — Late-spring cold snaps and untimely freezes have delayed harvests and reduced yields for Mississippi’s 2013 blueberry crop. George Traicoff of Hernando runs a family owned and operated you-pick operation in DeSoto County. He started Nesbit Blueberry Plantation with 6,000 plants in 1984, and today his family tends 16,000 plants. “We are running about a week later than ...

ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — Farmers are finally catching up on cotton planting, but experts are worried that the late start could expose the crop to more insects than if wet weather hadn’t delayed planting. Mississippi farmers had intended to plant corn on many acres in hopes of cashing in on high prices. But winter and spring rains left many fields waterlogged, ...

ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — Farmers and wildlife officials say wild hogs are roaming throughout the state, damaging crops and land. As a result, Gov. Phil Bryant signed a bill that adds wild hogs to the state beaver-control program. Beginning July 1, a Beaver and Wild Hog Control Advisory Board will be created to come up with a program to control or ...

STARKVILLE — The Mississippi State University Extension Service recently gained national recognition for a program designed to protect the state’s timberlands from an insect pest. The Mississippi Southern Pine Beetle Prevention Program received the 2012 Family Forests Education Award at the Society of American Foresters’ national convention, held in Spokane, Wash. The honor is given annually by the National Woodland ...

ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — Mississippi’s hay producers increased acreage and yields this season in spite of variable rainfall across the state. “Hay production systems in the central part of the state had a really good season,” said Rocky Lemus, Mississippi State University Extension Service forage specialist. “We’ve been blessed with quite a bit of rain in central Mississippi, and the hay ...

BAY ST. LOUIS — The thousands of caterpillars covering yards in the Garden Isle neighborhood of Bay St. Louis make it look almost like the grass is moving. Residents worry this is just a pit stop before the insects get into their homes. Residents in Garden Isle tell WLOX-TV since Hurricane Isaac, the whole area has been infested with caterpillars. ...

ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — The Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce’s (MDAC) Bureau of Plant Industry is providing assistance to Mississippi hay producers that are transporting baled hay into areas that do not have established populations of fire ants. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a fire ant quarantine in place that restricts the movement of baled hay from infested ...

SOUTHWEST MISSISSIPPI — The Mississippi Forestry Commission says the first Southern pine beetle outbreak to hit southwest Mississippi in nearly 20 years has apparently doubled in size and shows no signs of slowing. The Enterprise-Journal reports officials are urging landowners in Franklin, Amite, Wilkinson, Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln and Copiah counties to check for the beetles, which bore into living pine ...